Many Turkish companies that have weaved their way to success in the textile industry are now turning their attention to large investments in Turkey’s energy sector, according to executives of several firms.
Textile companies such as Çalık, Türkerler, Sanko, Zorlu, Boydak, Tema, Akbaş, Şahinler, Akkök and Erenler have invested millions of dollars in the energy sector over the last two decades.
Textile-based Sanko Holding has been active in the energy sector since 1996. Sanko has invested nearly $800 million in the sector until now, said Abdülkadir Konukoğlu, board chairman of Sanko Holding.
Sanko, which has hydropower projects in various cities, is aiming to invest about $300 million in the energy sector in 2011, according to Konukoğlu.
The company forecasts a total of $2 billion in investments within the nest five years. “Textile is still the flagship of Sanko, but we are not making new investments in the textile sector. We are just maintaining and renovating the present machinery in our facilities.”
İlkem Şahin, board chairman of Nett Enerji, is another businessman who decided to enter the energy sector in addition to his operations in textile. Şahin, who is the owner of Little Big Jeans, entered the energy sector three years ago with Nett Enerji.
The company plans to invest a total of $90 million in the energy sector in 2011, Şahin said.
“Everyone wants to enter the energy sector in Turkey. There are a lot of actors in the sector and some bad jobs also. It should be considered that the energy sector requires some expertise,” he said.
Renewables
Zorlu Holding has invested nearly $2 billion since 1993 when it entered the energy sector, according to Arif Özozan, director general of Zorlu Energy, the holdings subsidiary.
The holding has a total of 738 megawatts of electricity-generation capacity, including five natural gas, seven hydroelectric, one geothermal, one wind and one diesel-oil power plants, Özozan said.
On average, 1 MW of power can supply electricity to as many as 300 households per year.
The company now aims to increase its share in renewable energy investment, Özozan said. “We plan to increase our renewable energy-based electricity generation, which currently constitutes 40 percent of our total portfolio, to 60 percent with new investments.”
Our firm is progressing toward becoming a regional actor with our investments in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, Zorlu said.
Eren Holding is another company that entered the energy sector after its operations in the textile sector. The company operates a coal-burning power plant worth $1.5 billion in Çatalağzı in the Black Sea province of Zonguldak.
Various energy sources
Tema Holding, the company behind apparel brand LC Waikiki, has said its operations in the energy sector are its “investments of the future” as the company is building two hydroelectric power plants in the northern provinces of Çankırı and Samsun. Tema has also said it plans to invest $100 million to $150 million in wind power and solar energy.
The textile sector was the traditional business field of the Çalık Holding, which is also active in various fields of the energy sector such as electricity generation, distribution, oil prospecting and mining.
The Samsun-Ceyhan crude oil pipeline, which aims to transport oil form the Black Sea countries to the Mediterranean, is one of the most important projects of the Çalık group in the energy sector. According to company officials, the company aims to become a regional actor especially in petrol.
The group, which owns Ortadoğu Tekstil and GAP Güneydoğu Tekstil, is already a leading denim fabric and fiber producer in Turkey.
The Energy Market Regulatory Authority, or EMRA, has given permission this year for nearly 100 new power plants and additional units with a total of 3,490 MW power capacity once installed. A total of 2,284 MW of the total amount is coal power plants, 736 MW is hydropower and 436 MW is wind power.